Infants, children, and other incontinent individuals wear disposable absorbent articles to receive and contain urine and other bodily exudates. It has become increasingly important for disposable absorbent articles to be more garment-like in appearance. Absorbent articles having fixed sides, such as disposable training pants for use on toilet training children, have become popular for use on toilet-training children. It is particularly desirable that disposable training pants be very garment-like in appearance and feel so a toilet training child will distinguish it from a diaper, will want not to soil them, and will more easily adjust to cloth undergarments.
Absorbent articles, generally comprise a liquid impervious thermoplastic backsheet, a liquid pervious topsheet, an absorbent structure for absorbing bodily exudates, and elastic legbands and waistbands to gather the article for fit and containment. The absorbent structure, elastic legbands, and elastic waistbands are generally positioned between the topsheet and the backsheet, and usually adhesively secured thereto. This general structure is substantially liquid impervious, but is plastic in feel and resembles an absorbent article as a result of the absorbent core or outline of the absorbent core being visible through the backsheet.
Several structures have been developed to eliminate, as much as possible, the feel of plastic and appearance of an absorbent article. One such structure utilizes a backsheet comprising a film-coated nonwoven. This backsheet comprises a thermoplastic film that is extruded onto a nonwoven web. The heat of the film and the pressure applied during the process provides the adhesion between the film and nonwoven layer. While the film does help to maintain the integrity of the nonwoven layer, it also results in a stiffer and less desirable backsheet.
Another structure utilizes a backsheet comprising a thermoplastic film laminated to a nonwoven layer. The laminating is provided by applying an adhesive to the film or the nonwoven layer, and then attaching it to the other layers of the article. Thus, in both this second design and the first one mentioned above, the thermoplastic film and the nonwoven layer are joined totally along their mutually facing surfaces and the absorbent core or outline thereof is still visible through the backsheet.
Another structure utilizes a backsheet comprising an outer layer and inner layer which are intermittently or partially joined together. Such a structure is more garment-like in appearance and feel. However, the absorbent core is generally secured to the inner layer and is generally still visible through the outer layer 18 of the chassis. This is particularly true if there is a pattern or design printed on the inner layer.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an absorbent article having a backsheet comprising an inner layer intermittently or partially joined to an outer layer which provides a garment-like appearance and feel and which substantially masks or hides the absorbent core or outline of the absorbent core from the viewer.